To provide an opportunity for Members and
Officers to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interests in
any item on the agenda

Minutes:

A number of Councillors who were existing
County Councillors, Borough Councillors and Town and Parish
Councillors declared a personal interest in the business of the
meeting en bloc.

Officer Declarations

Lisa Quinn declared an interest in the item
relating to Appointment of Borough Treasurer and Head of Assets and
left the meeting during consideration of this matter.

Julie Openshaw declared an interest in the
item relating to Appointment of Borough Solicitor and Monitoring
Officer and left the meeting during consideration of this
matter.

55.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive such announcements as may be made
by the Chairman of the Council

Minutes:

The Chairman announced
that there was an urgent item of business to bring before the
meeting relating to a Local Area Agreement for Cheshire East.

In accordance with Section 100B(4)(b) of the
Local Government Act 1972 and because of the need for Council to
consider the recommendation of Cabinet, which met on 2 December,
the Chairman stated that she was of the opinion that the item
should be considered at this meeting as a matter of
urgency. The matter would be dealt with
as part of the public agenda.

56.

Public Speaking Time/Open Session

In accordance with Procedure
Rules Nos.11 and 35 a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for
members of the public to address the Committee on any matter
relevant to the work of the Committee.

Individual members of the
public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman will decide
how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be
apportioned where there are a number of speakers.

Note: In order for officers to
undertake any background research it would be helpful if questions
were submitted at least one working day before the
meeting.

Minutes:

There were no members of the public present
who wished to address the meeting.

57.

Minutes of the special meeting of the Council held on 20 October 2008

To approve the minutes as a correct
record.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

That the minutes be approved as a correct
record, subject to the addition of Councillor S Wilkinson to the
list of those present.

58.

Minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 20 October 2008

To consider the
attached Notice of Motion, proposed by Councillor R Fletcher and
seconded by Councillor D Neilson.

Minutes:

Consideration was
given to the following Notice of Motion proposed by Councillor R Fletcher and seconded by Councillor D
Neilson:-

SUSTAINABLE
COMMUNITIES ACT

That CHESHIRE EAST COUNCIL:-

(i) supports the bottom up process in the
Sustainable Communities Act designed to
allow local authorities and their communities to drive the help
that central government gives in
reversing community decline and promoting thriving, sustainable
communities;

(ii) notes the Act gives local authorities the
power to

- make proposals to government on the action and
assistance
government must take to
promote sustainable communities and

- argue for a
transfer of public money and function from central to local control
:

(iii) notes that
the Act defines the sustainable communities broadly. That
definition having the 4 aspects of

-
the improvement of local economy,

-
protection of the environment

-
promotion of social inclusion, and

-
participation in civic and public activity;

(iv) notes that reasons for a local authority choosing
to use the Act include gaining new
assistance from government, determining that assistance, being able
to argue for transfers of public monies from central to local
control and involving citizens in democracy.

(v) resolves , when invited to by central government,
to use the Act by preparing and submitting proposals on how central
government can help; and

(vi) further
resolves:-

-
to inform the local media of this decision;

-
to write to local MPs, informing them
of this decision; and

-
to write to Local Works ( at Local Works, c/o Unlock Democracy, 6
Cynthia St, London N1 9JF ) informing them of their resolution to
use the Act.

To notify Council of the Council Tax Base
for Cheshire East and to confirm that, in

accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax Base)
Regulations 1992, the

amount to be calculated by Cheshire East Council as its Council Tax
Base for the year

2009/10.

Minutes:

Cheshire East Council was
required to approve its Tax Base, before 31 January 2009, so that
the information could be provided to Cheshire Police Authority and
Cheshire Fire Authority for their budget processes.

RESOLVED

That, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Tax
Base) Regulations

1992, the amount to be calculated by Cheshire East Council as its
Council Tax Base

for the year 2009/10 be confirmed
as:

for the whole area –
144,761.46

for each
Parish area the figures included in
Appendix A to the report.

To
ratify the recommendation of the Staffing Committee regarding the
appointment of the Borough Solicitor and Monitoring Officer of
Cheshire East Council.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report
outlining the process used for the recruitment of the Borough Solicitor
and Monitoring Officer and requesting that the Council ratify the
recommendation for appointment made by the Staffing Committee.

To formally recommend the Cheshire Children Plan 2008-11, for
adoption by Cheshire

East Council, as its statutory Children Plan to 2011 and that
Council notes the

requirement to set local targets (as part of the Local Authority
Agreement process) by

1 April 2009 and the need to review, refresh and localise that Plan
during the period

April 2009 to June 2010.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report briefing the Cheshire East
Council on its duties in relation to the Cheshire Children Plan
2008-11, and seeking some formal decisions in order to ensure that
statutory requirements are complied with for 1 April 2009.

RESOLVED

1.That the Cheshire Children Plan 2008 -11 be formally adopted

by Cheshire East Council as its statutory Children Plan to
2011.

2.That Council notes the
requirement to set local targets (as part of the Local

Authority Agreement process) by 1 April 2009 and the need to
review, refresh

and localise that Plan during the period April 2009 to June
2010.

66.

Appointment of Statutory Co-opted Members to Scrutiny Committees-Elected Parent Governors and Nominated Church Representatives

Consideration was given to a report relating to the adoption of an
Officer Code of Conduct, its immediate inclusion in the Shadow
Council’s Constitution and, thereafter, in Cheshire East
Unitary Council’s Constitution with effect from 1 April
2009.

RESOLVED

That the Cheshire East Council :-

1.
Adopts the Officer Code of Conduct appended to the Report (Noting
that the Core Values for Cheshire East as a whole are still in
draft and will require Cabinet approval in January 2009);

2.
Agrees that the Officer Code of Conduct will take effect
immediately and will apply to all officers appointed by the Shadow
Council;

3.
Agrees that the Officer Code of Conduct will continue to have
effect, and will apply to all officers employed by Cheshire East
successor authority on 1st April 2009 and
thereafter;

4.
Agrees that the Officer Code of Conduct will be included
immediately in the Shadow Council’s Constitution and, with
effect from 1st April 2009, in Cheshire East successor
authority’s Constitution; and

5.
Authorises the Interim Monitoring Officer to make such
consequential amendments to the Constitution as she considers are
necessary to give effect to the decision of Council.

To seek approval for the formation of a Licensing
Committee of Cheshire East

Council, both as a shadow committee prior to 1 April
2009 and as a fully operational

Committee thereafter.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report seeking approval for the
formation of a Licensing Committee of Cheshire East Council, both
as a shadow committee prior to 1 April 2009 and as a fully
operational Committee thereafter.

RESOLVED

That a Licensing
Committee be appointed on the following terms:-

1.
A full Licensing Committee of fifteen Members (with a quorum of
eight) on a politically proportional basis, i.e. Conservatives 11;
Liberal Democrats 2; Labour 1; Independent Group 1.

2.That the Licensing Committee then establishes
Sub-Committees of three Members drawn from the full Committee to
deal with matters under the Licensing Act 2003 and the Gambling Act
2003; and

3.That Sub-Committees of five Members (with a quorum
of three) drawn from the full Committee (of which at least one
shall, subject to availability, be the Chairman or Vice Chairman of
the full Committee) are established on an ad hoc basis to deal with
‘general’ licensing matters.

4.That those Members listed in appendix 1 of the
report be appointed to the Licensing Committee.

5.That Council delegates to the Licensing Committee
those licensing functions which are the responsibility of Council
set out in Appendix 2 of the report, subject to the proviso that
before any Councillor who is a member of the Licensing Committee
can attend a meeting and participate in the determination of an
application or appeal by any individual or body, that Councillor
must have attended a suitable training course dealing with the
quasi-judicial nature of the role of the Committee.

6.That the date of the first meeting of the Licensing
Committee be 19th December 2008.

7.That the Interim Monitoring Officer be authorised to
make such consequential changes to the Constitution as she
considers appropriate to give effect to the decision of Council in
relation to paragraphs 1 to 3 above.

In
accordance with section 17 (1) of the Local Government and Housing
Act 1989, it was necessary that the following resolution be
approved without any Member of the Authority voting against. It was
resolved unanimously that :-

That the requirement
of political proportionality under section 15 of the Local
Government and Housing Act 1989 be waived, in relation to the
sub-committee established under 3 above.

To endorse the Cheshire Local Area Agreement 2008 -
2011 in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government
(Structural Changes) (Transitional Arrangements) Regulations 2008;
note its statutory duty to have regard to all targets in the Local
Area Agreement and those for which it will become the 'lead
partner'; and delegate its authority to make any proposals for
'revision' of the Cheshire Local Area Agreement 2008 - 2011 to the
Secretary of State, deemed necessary as a consequence of the annual
refresh process and in accordance with the requirements of Section
111 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act
2007, to the Cabinet.

In accordance with Procedure Rules 11,
opportunity is provided for Members of the Shadow Council to ask
the Chairman, the appropriate Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a
Committee any question about a matter which the Shadow Council, the
Cabinet or the Committee has powers, duties or
responsibilities.

Questions must be sent in writing to the
Interim Monitoring Officer at least 3 clear working days before the
meeting.